****************** CALL FOR ACTION ****************
Priority:
normal
Background:
In spite of several requests of the Csangos (the Hungarian minority
in Moldova, Romania) the Roman Catholic Curch is still not offering
them the Holy Masses in their native tongue. The responsible bishop
Gherghel does
Since neither the e-mail address nor the fax # of the Pope is
available we should send our protest to Radio Vatican, l'Osservatore
Romano (a Vatican weekly) and the Vatican Information Service. It is
important to act NOW, as the Pope will probably visit Romania around
June 15.
What to do:
Please write a letter to the editors of Radio Vatican,
l'Osservatore Romano and the Vatican Information service and protest
against the current situation. Feel free to use the attached form
letters. Please do even inform the local media about the problems of
the Csangos.
PLEASE DO NOT HESITATE TO SEND A LETTER EVERY DAY!!
E-mail of Radio Vatican:
E-mail of l'Osservatore Romano:
Fax # of Vatican Information Service:
+39-6-69883053
**************************************************************
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
letter to Radio Vatican:
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
The Vatican Radio
00120 Cittŕ del Vaticano
(e-mail: )
Dear Editor:
I would like to turn your attention on the problems of a small group
of Catholics in the Northeastern part of Romania, the Csangos.
The Csangos are of Hungarian descent. They settled down in the
region east of the Carpathian mountains (today called Moldova) in the
13th century on invitation of the local ruler, the Kuman king Barsz.
These simple farmers were and are still today devout Catholics. They
maintained their faith, their ancient language (based on an archaic
form of Hungarian), their folk customs, folk dresses and folk music.
Recently I learned that the Csango congregations of Cleja, Pustina and
Lazped have been asking for years, that the Holy Mass shall be offered
in their archaic Hungarian language. Up to now their bishop Petru
Gherghel has refused this request. This denial is both contrary to the
teachings of the Roman Catholic Church and is also an affront to their
most basic human rights. Furthermore it promotes the cultural
assimilation of a unique nation.
Your radio could do a great service by focusing the attention of the
Church and of the Catholic community on the problems of the Csangos
and thereby contribute to the survival of this ancient culture.
Respectfully yours,
<Your name, address, title.>
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
letter to l'Osservatore Romano:
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
l'Osservatore Romano
00120 Cittŕ del Vaticano
(e-mail )
Dear Editor:
I would like to turn your attention on the problems of a small group
of Catholics in the Northeastern part of Romania, the Csangos.
The Csangos are of Hungarian descent. They settled down in the
region east of the Carpathian mountains (today called Moldova) in the
13th century on invitation of the local ruler, the Kuman king Barsz.
These simple farmers were and are still today devout Catholics. They
maintained their faith, their ancient language (based on an archaic
form of Hungarian), their folk customs, folk dresses and folk music.
Recently I learned that the Csango congregations of Cleja, Pustina and
Lazped have been asking for years, that the Holy Mass shall be offered
in their archaic Hungarian language. Up to now their bishop Petru
Gherghel has refused this request. This denial is both contrary to the
teachings of the Roman Catholic Church and is also an affront to their
most basic human rights. Furthermore it promotes the cultural
assimilation of a unique nation.
Your weekly could do a great service by focusing the attention of the
Church and of the Catholic community on the problems of the Csangos
and thereby contribute to the survival of this ancient culture.
Respectfully yours,
<Your name, address, title.>
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
letter to Vatican Information Service:
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Vatican Information Service
00120 Vatican City
Fax : +39-6-69883053
Dear Editor:
I would like to turn your attention on the problems of a small group
of Catholics in the Northeastern part of Romania, the Csangos.
The Csangos are of Hungarian descent. They settled down in the
region east of the Carpathian mountains (today called Moldova) in the
13th century on invitation of the local ruler, the Kuman king Barsz.
These simple farmers were and are still today devout Catholics. They
maintained their faith, their ancient language (based on an archaic
form of Hungarian), their folk customs, folk dresses and folk music.
Recently I learned that the Csango congregations of Cleja, Pustina and
Lazped have been asking for years, that the Holy Mass shall be offered
in their archaic Hungarian language. Up to now their bishop Petru
Gherghel has refused this request. This denial is both contrary to the
teachings of the Roman Catholic Church and is also an affront to their
most basic human rights. Furthermore it promotes the cultural
assimilation of a unique nation.
Your weekly could do a great service by focusing the attention of the
Church and of the Catholic community on the problems of the Csangos
and thereby contribute to the survival of this ancient culture.
Respectfully yours,
<Your name, address, title.>

Dear Colleagues,
Once again, we have an opportunity to bring the Danube to the attantion to
the readers of the New York Times. If you decide to write, please DO NOT copy
my attached letter, it is attached only for your reference.
Best regards: Bela Liptak
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
The New York Times
229 W 43rd St.
New York, NY 10036
(E-Mail: )
To the Editor,
Stephen Kintzer is correct in reporting (5/29/97) that, when Turkey uses up
the water of the Tigris and Euphrates, downstream nations can do little else,
- short of military action, - but to ask the World Bank to deny loans for the
project. This lack of an international legal framework for guiding the use of
rivers will change, when in the fall, the World Court rules on the Danube
lawsuit.
By ruling or commenting on four questions, the court will set important
precedents for the 21st Century:
First, it will rule, if an upstream state can reroute a border river onto
her territory and take the energy from the water and keep it to herself,
while destroying the wetlands of the other?
Second, it will rule, if the international community has the right to
protect the natural treasures of the planet, or if national governments are
free to do as they please?
Third, it might comment on the financing of such projects, as in the case of
the Danube, it is the J.P. Morgan bank, which provides the construction loan.
Lastly, it might set a fourth precedent, by also enforcing its ruling,by
calling on the Security Council of the UN to force Slovakia to return the
river into its natural riverbed.
Therefore, the outcome of the Danube lawsuit will have implications not only
for the Tigris and Euphrates, but for the globalized legal framework of the
21st Century.
Bela Liptak, editor
Environmental Engineers' Handbook
May 29, 1997, Stamford, CT
Tel: 203-357-7614

Dear Colleagues,
Thanks to Csaba Gaal (and to all other HL members who wrote), Europe's
largest paper has now expained to its readers, that a swamp formed of
polluted water on the outskirts of Bratislava can not balance or correct the
destruction of an ecosystem which survived since the Last Ice Age in the
Szigetkoz.
This once again shows the effectiveness of our joint action and I hope will
convince those who have not been participating in our letter writing
campaigns to join in.
Best regards: Bela Liptak
PS: "A tett halala az okoskodas."

The above documentary is playing in Toronto, at Canada Square. It is not
advertised, a friend of mine called my attention to it. It is about 3
old brothers who revived klezmer music. Why I am writing about it on
this list? Because, to my greatest surprise, a great many melodies I
knew as either good Hungarian pop (like, Jozsef, Jozsef, hogy veled
mennyi baj van), or as gypsy music (minek a szoke en nekem, mikor en a
barnat szeretem). But I almost fell off my chair when a violin solo
played Akacos ut, ha vegigmegyek rajtad en as a typical jiddish melody!
The film is very entertaining, was produced in Germany, speaks English.
Agnes